Little Things
by Just Arty
Summary: Ten x Rose High School AU - John Noble, perpetual new kid, is convinced this school is just going to be another temporary stop. Until he meets a certain Rose Tyler
1. Chapter 1

After less than two hours, John Noble decided anyone who said the first day of school was a good experience was a great big liar. Odd looks from students in the hallway (most of whom were not nearly as inconspicuous as they probably thought) and hushed whispers (John heard what was almost definitely "new" and "nerd" more a few times) that followed him around proved that point beyond any reasonable doubt. To be fair, the pin-covered backpack and glasses probably didn't exactly radiate an impression of "cool".

He should have been used to being the new kid by now. All the traveling and various schools throughout the past few years. This move was supposedly permanent, but his mother had said that for the last three towns too. Being new was familiar, sure, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. Some things get easier with experience. This was not one of them.

The first half of the day passed fairly quickly. Not exceptionally eventful. Calc. Bio. Chem. English. History. Hour after hour after hour of lessons he already knew. Donna almost had to nudge him awake in history, the only class they had together. It was hard for anyone to stay awake in that class though. The teacher had an impressive ability to remain at the same monotone for the entire sixty minutes. The lecture about colonization of the Americas and the clicking of computer keys from rapid note taking that would fade before the end of the first semester produced an overall soporific rhythm. By the time the bell let out its characteristic buzz, Donna had managed to type a full three pages of notes, her fingers flying across the laptop keyboard the whole period.

Lunch was when the already not so stellar day took a turn for the worse. Of course Donna had a different lunch period, where she'd probably already met loads of new friends. The firmly established social order left him with exactly one plausible option. The empty corner table, behind the most popular kids.

"Oh, look, it's the new boy," said one of the girls, with a Scottish lilt. Long red hair and a cherry lipstick smile. Heading towards the popular table, but instead stopping in front of John, who was about to sit down.

"Get away from him, Pond," said another girl coming to his defense from a few seats over.

"Nobody asked you, Tyler. I think I'll do what I want," said the girl who had been called Pond, knocking John's tray out of his hands and sending various most likely inedible food products falling to the floor. At least half the cafeteria burst into laughter at the sight.

"Oh God," said the other one, coming over and helping him wipe the spaghetti sauce and juice off the floor. "Never mind Amy. I'll sit with you. I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler."

She was blonde, wearing a pink hoodie. And she was also the first person to actually speak _to_ him all day.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. I'm John."

She flashed him a wide smile, with a happiness that spread across her face. Maybe the day wouldn't be a complete failure after all.

"I know. The whole school's been talking about you. We don't get many new people around here."

They cleaned up the last remnants of food, and Rose picked up her bag and took an empty seat next to John, ignoring the furious glares from Amy Pond and her friends. If looks could kill, Rose Tyler would have been dead a hundred times over.

"You are so - " Amy started to say.

"So going to regret this? Maybe. But I don't care," said Rose. "It's my decision to make. Not yours. Not Clara's."

Amy rolled her eyes but turned back towards her other friends, who were involved in an obviously enthralling discussion, probably about whose reputation to ruin next. And they could probably easily do it, if the last few minutes were any indication.

"You didn't have to do that," said John. "Taking pity on the new kid, right?"

"I wanted to do it. No one should sit alone, especially not on their first day. And besides, I've been looking for somewhere else to sit."

"I wouldn't think you'd want to get on Amy's bad side. Seems like a straight shot to being an outcast here."

"Forget Amy."

Needless to say, the second half of lunch was the highlight of the day. Even without food. It was the first time all day he was disappointed when the bell rang.

* * *

The only benefit of having late lunch was that there was only one class before dismissal.

It was Spanish, and he couldn't help but think about Rose and the way they hadn't stopped laughing for at least fifteen minutes straight. Her smile. Her brown eyes. How she was the only one who'd helped.

There was no way he could pay attention to conjugating irregular verbs.

He about to leave for the afternoon when he heard guitar playing coming from the music room, which he passed on the way to the front door, and a unique laugh that he would now be able to identify from anywhere.

He opened the door. There were chairs all around, set up for the school band or whatever other musical groups came in here for practice. Rose was sitting on one right in the middle of the room, with the guitar he'd heard earlier.

"Hello," he said, with a grin.

"Hello," Rose replied, with an equally enthusiastic smile.

"What are you doing here? The bell rang already. Don't want to be late."

"I could ask you the same question. The music teacher lets me use this room after school. I've been coming here since last year. Beats hanging out at home."

"I just heard you. From the hallway. Not that I was intentionally looking for you or anything. I just...heard the music and figured I might as well…"

"No need to explain yourself. You gonna stay? I think there are a few instruments in the back if you want to play something. Just make sure the band doesn't find out."

His phone buzzed from inside his jacket pocket. A text from Donna. _Where are you, dumbo? Get out here so we can get home before Mum throws a fit._

Crap. He was supposed to get a ride from Donna. He replied with a "_Staying after school. Leave without me._"

A few minutes later there was another text.

_On the first day? Someone's busy. Mum says to be back by six._

"You can keep playing. Don't mind me," said John.

Rose started into a pop tune, something John had heard on Donna's favorite radio station not too long ago. Her singing was beautiful, John thought. Powerful and genuine. She didn't miss a note. She had talent, that much was undeniable.

"You gonna play, or did you just come to watch me make a fool of myself?" asked Rose, after nailing the last high note.

"Don't be silly, that was fantastic. I play the guitar, yes, since you asked."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let me hear."

She offered him the guitar. He hesitated, but then accepted. He played the first song he could think of, the last thing he'd learned to play. It wasn't a very difficult song, but it was nice enough.

"How was it?" he asked her, once he'd finished. "Live up to your expectations?"

"Of course."

Rose reached into her backpack and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. An advertisement.

"Battle of the Bands? Isn't that a bit of a cliche?" John said, after reading it. "I thought those only happened in movies."

"Maybe it's a bit cliche. It's still fun though, to hear all the people who come to play. The prize is nice, too."

"$2000?" John noticed, after reading a bit further. "That is nice."

"Yeah, it's available to all the local schools. It's a pretty big thing. Like I said, not much happens around here, so events like this are a big deal."

"Well, maybe we should enter. I think you'd definitely have a shot at winning."

Rose looked down, avoiding his eyes. "About that...I'm already part of a band, and there's a maximum of four people per group."

"Oh. That's fine. Fine. Great," said John. "Good luck."

"Maybe you could find your own band," Rose suggested. "You've got as much of a shot as I do."

John smiled. "Maybe I'll do that."

"Well, I dunno. I'll probably still win," Rose teased. "Cheesy pop songs are hard to compete with."

"We'll see about that. May the better band win."

"Might be a bit hard to win without a band," said Rose with a great big laugh that almost filled the almost empty room with its warmth.

"Rose Tyler, you are so on."


	2. Chapter 2

Finding a band was a lot harder than it sounded. John was beginning to regret accepting Rose's (sort of) challenge so readily. Everyone who was going to compete already had a group of four, and of course the whole situation in the cafeteria didn't exactly make him the kind of person that anyone would actually ask to join their band.

About two weeks into the school year, the whispers had finally started dying down, as nothing earth-shattering had happened since John's arrival. The whole school had been almost completely uneventful for the most part. There was a quiz upcoming in some class or another (John was fairly sure it was biology, in which case he didn't need to worry about it since the notes were posted online anyway and Donna practically wrote down more than the teacher actually spoke), but there was a more pressing matter to contend with. Finding someone to compete with. The deadline for enrolling was coming up soon, and John still had no idea who he was entering with. At this rate, he'd be entering as a band of one, which would make his already precarious social standing even worse.

The cafeteria was mainly laid out in tables that were long like benches, with round chairs attached at regular intervals. Rose would usually sit at the end of the popular table to somewhat satisfy Amy or right next to John, which never failed to surprise him. They talked about the latest things that had happened in the school, what they thought of the lesson in classes, anything really. Making fun of the biology teacher's attitude was a common theme. It didn't matter what they were talking about, it was just nice seeing that brilliant smile and having someone to talk to.

"Any time you want to ditch nerd boy, you're welcome back over here," Amy said to Rose once, after they'd settled into some semblance of a routine at lunches. That particular day, Amy had been in the seat at the popular table closest to Rose's usual seat, and since Clara wasn't there, making the life of everyone around her miserable was Amy's pursuit for the day.

"I think I'm good, thanks," Rose answered, before proceeding to the other table and emphasizing her decision to sit there, by dropping her backpack next to her seat more forcefully than was entirely necessary.

Eventually, even Amy stopped sending them death glares and settled on rolling her eyes every once in a while. Although sometimes she seemed too involved in her new boyfriend Rory for her to be noticing anything else that was going on. Which was good news for John, since he seemed to be fairly low on her list of favorite people.

He almost always stayed after school, usually for science club or computer club, but sometimes just to listen to Rose practice for the competition. Sometimes he did homework while listening, other times he just listened and occasionally offered suggestions for improving the song. It was at least a relief that she wasn't going to be playing with Amy and Rory, or the others, Clara and River. The four of them were one of the other bands who would be competing. Who everyone assumed would win. John hadn't heard them play, but even he knew how far popularity went in this school.

The band room was usually empty after school except for Rose, a nice contrast to the constant cacophony of his house. His mother and Donna weren't exactly the most quiet people in the world - at the worst time in the last house, he'd had to walk a few blocks to the library in order to get away from the noise after Donna and his mother argued about Donna's boyfriend, Lance. He'd turned out to be a jerk and Donna had been devastated, John remembered.

Once, Rose's bandmates had been there in the band room to practice with her. Martha, Shareen, and Jack had all seemed nice. Playing together, they sounded even more amazing than just Rose alone. Their playing came together perfectly. Martha and Jack actually had the same lunch as John and Rose on a few days of the week They usually sat in another part of the cafeteria, but sometimes they joined John and Rose, which made the corner table a little less empty-seeming.

The day the biology quiz was returned, Rose seemed more than a bit discontent at lunch. She didn't talk as much as she usually did, and she hardly reacted to Jack's attempt at flirting with a boy halfway across the cafeteria through ridiculously exaggerated facial expressions and gestures while Martha and Donna (who had left study hall intending to go to the library but ended up sitting with them for a bit at lunch and didn't seem to have any intention of returning to study hall) were laughing uncontrollably.

"Is something wrong?" John asked Rose near the end of the period, after she had spent most of the time staring glumly at the table and slowly eating the greasy cafeteria pizza (although no one could blame her, seeing as it didn't seem exactly appetizing).

"Alright, I guess. It's just the stupid biology quiz," she sighed. "Didn't do very well."

"It's okay. It's just the first quiz of the year. It's barely even counting for points. You'll do a lot better next time, I know it."

"I'm not exactly the best at academics. I almost failed math last year, and now I barely understand anything in biology. Good luck finding any college that'll accept stupid me, right?"

"Don't say that. You're brilliant."

Rose scoffed. "Oh, don't even talk. Look at you, straight A's practically since kindergarten. Some of us aren't that smart. Some of us actually have to work for their grades."

The bell rang just then, a relief from the suddenly awkward conversation.

"I do work for my grades. Thank you for assuming everything is easy for me," John said, picking up his things and getting lost in the middle of the crowd leaving the cafeteria, and ignoring Rose calling his name as he walked away.

He didn't stay for her practice that day.

* * *

The next day there was finally some luck in assembling a band, and just in time, since the last day to enter was in less than four days, and John was starting to get seriously worried about whether he'd be able to participate. Some of the kids in the science club were thinking of entering a band, and they'd finally decided to do it. And as luck would have it, they were looking for a fourth person to compete with. Their names were Agatha, Charlie, and Will, and they were all in at least one of his classes.

Near the beginning of the science club meeting, they asked him to come with them to the band room for a bit, since they'd heard he was looking for someone to compete with, and they were wondering whether he'd be interested in joining them. Rose would be in the band room practicing her new song, John knew, and he wasn't entirely sure she was looking forward to seeing him after what had happened. But all the instruments were stored in there, and maybe Rose had forgotten about the conversation the previous day.

"What are you lot doing here?" Rose asked, once they walked into the band room, where she was sitting with her guitar per usual. "Isn't science club supposed to be meeting today?"

"We want to start a band," John told her. "You know, for the competition. We're going to see how we sound together. It shouldn't take long. We won't bother you."

"Rose Tyler?" asked Charlie, surprised to see her there. "I didn't know you played."

"Not many people do," she replied quietly. "Nobody ever really asks."

John, Agatha, Charlie, and Will went over to the other side of the room. They played in a different style than Rose's - more electric than acoustic, and faster. It sounded good though. Different. And John was glad to join them in the competition. He was just happy he had someone to be in a band with, honestly. But they had a real chance at winning, he thought to himself, while listening to them play another song. If they wrote a great song together for the show, there'd be no reason they couldn't be the best band.

They were about to head back to the science lab when Rose interrupted her song and called after them, "John?"

"Yes?" he responded, turning around to face her.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. For earlier. I know you work hard. It was a dumb thing for me to say. I was just mad that I can't seem to do schoolwork right, and you're so good at it," she said, looking down at her guitar.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have gotten mad about it. I know you didn't mean it."

"You had every right to get mad. Anyway, I guess I'll see you 'round then?"

"See you 'round, Rose."


End file.
